Vampaneze Halls
by psychodramabeautyfish
Summary: Kurda finally works up the guts to go and find out where the Vampaneze meet, and asks to be let in.


Tolerance

Very soon, three Vampaneze approached me, cautiously but at least they didn't look as hostile as the two guards had. But they were all carrying weapons.

They stopped a few metres in front of me and stared at me curiously for a few minutes, studying me intently.

I tried to remain calm; if they wanted to kill me they would have done it by now. No, if they wanted too kill me then the gate guards would have done it, not listened to my request and sent out these three to listen to me, who I assumed were probably more tolerant of Vampires then the others.

In turn, I studied the trio as they were studying me.

One of them was female, which was a surprise. She was taller than both the others, and her skin was only a very light shade of purple; her hair still had streaks of bright blonde amongst the red. She was holding a curved sword in her left hand, and her eyes were constantly moving, which gave her a look of constant unease.

The Vampaneze on the right was slimmer than the other two, had long hair tied neatly at the nape of his neck and a carefully neutral expression. He didn't have his sword in his hand, and had his arms crossed which would slow him down if he needed to draw it quickly; I didn't know if this was foolishness or if it showed he trusted me not to make a move.

I repressed a snort. As if I would!

The Vampaneze standing in the middle, closest to me, was shorter than his companions but taller than me, and looked the friendliest. Short and stocky, with untidy short hair, he had only a small – but sharp looking! – dagger, belted at his hip.

I opened my mouth to say something but the woman got there first.

"What do you want?" She snapped, obviously not impressed.

I cleared my throat. "My name is Kurda Smahlt and before you ask, I'm not a messenger from the Vampire Princes, or Generals or on an errand or mission of any kind."

I saw the slender Vampaneze raise an eyebrow and exchange a quick glance with the female, but I ignored it.

"I just want to talk." I continued. "I-"

"Talk?" Scoffed the woman. "About what pray tell? Anything coming from your so called 'princes'-" she said it mockingly. "-or 'generals' doesn't interest us in the slightest."

I kept my mouth shut, which was a good move it turned out as the Vampaneze in the front turned and said:

"Peace Varis, peace. Let him speak."

When he turned his head I noticed that he had a dark birthmark on his left cheek.

I gave him a slight smile and, ignoring the glare that the so called Varis gave me, quickly explained myself, my reasons and my wishes. There were three very incredulous expressions shot at me when I asked to stay.

When I'd finished, they looked at each other, then back at me, and then at each other again while I stood there, nervously awaiting their reaction.

Eventually the taller man turned to me and said:

"And what do your fellow Vampires say about this?"

I groaned inwardly, of all the questions he could have asked!

"They don't approve." I answered honestly.

"None of them?" he pressed.

Something about him gave me a strange sense of déjà vu, like I'd been told off by him before. And something about the way he was standing – arms folded, head cocked slightly to one side – was terribly familiar; I just couldn't put my finger on why.

I shook my head slowly. "I have a few friends who support my ideas but we're only a handful."

"Does anyone know you're here?" Cut in the woman called Varis suddenly.

Again, of all the questions in the world!

"No. Well yes." I was blathering now, and the last thing I wanted to do in the circumstances was blather. "They know I set out to find you, but they don't know exactly where I am. One of my friends planned to help me, and it would've been immensely helpful if he'd been able to come with me, but it wasn't possible for him to leave so he gave me a few pointers."

She narrowed her eyes. "Pointers?"

"He's had dealings with you before," I said, and then added: "Apparently."

The two men exchanged glances and it was obvious they were trying to remember any Vampire who'd had dealings with them before. But when they asked me to be more specific I couldn't. Vancha had been very vague.

I lapsed into silence again as they whispered to each other, and soon I was told to wait while they consulted with the others. The three of them disappeared down the tunnel again and I was left standing outside.

I sighed, put my hands in my pockets and sat down on a rocky outcrop, surveying the scenery.

It was all flat, rocky grassland as far as I could see. There was little or no wildlife, no trees or tall plants; just a few scrubby, prickly bushes. The moon was very high in the sky, and the sky stretched all the way to the ground on all sides of the flat plain.

It had been tough going crossing that plain, which had taken me at least three days.

But what I was sitting now was what I could only assume were the foothills of an enormous mountain range behind them. After three days of flat, expansive grassland, rocky hills were the last thing I expected to come across.

It suddenly occurred to me that maybe I'd arrived at the back door.

I wondered what was happening inside the caves. If the decision came to reject me then there was a good chance I'd be killed to keep their location a secret.

Before I could pursue that thought, my three interrogators returned.

"You're to be allowed into our Halls." Said the one I'd liked the most.

My face lit up and delight surged through me, I hadn't expected that but I'd hoped for it!

"But," Interrupted the other male, the one with the long hair, and I quickly rearranged my expression into something more appropriate as I waited for him to continue.

"Not everyone is welcome to the idea of a Vampire walking our Halls," he explained.

I nodded, now that I had expected.

"You will be allowed no weapons and will have an escort at all times."

I nodded again. "Reasonable terms." I agreed sincerely.

He tipped his head in agreement, which once again blasted me with déjà vu, but before I had time to think about it, the shorter Vampaneze stepped forward and gave me the first warm smile I'd seen since I'd left Vampire Mountain.

"Well then." He said. "I suppose introductions are in order." He held out a hand.

I smiled and took his outstretched hand tentatively. "Kurda."

"Glalda." He introduced himself.

"And this is Varis," Varis didn't smile, but at least she didn't glare.

"And Gannen." Gannen acknowledged me with a nod.

And with that I was admitted into the Vampaneze Halls.

I learnt about their ways and customs, and even made some friends and had good times with them.

My escort was a friendly individual called Velkan who answered all my questions in detail and with infinite patience.

At first I was received with a degree of suspicion and hostility, and I won't pretend that it ever disappeared completely, but over time a large number of Vampaneze came to trust me.

I didn't worry about being over friendly or over inquisitive and after a long, long while I changed from being a Vampire to be an equal, which was wonderful.

The more I learnt about the Vampaneze, the more the differences between the Vampires and the Vampaneze seemed less and less, but every time I returned to Vampire Mountain I realised that both clans still had many, many miles to go.


End file.
